Fox (Clash)
Fox is a starting playable character in Super Smash Bros. Clash. He's James McCloud's son and leads a space mercenary team called Star Fox. It's one of the better ones in the galaxy and is the primary enemy of Andross and Star Wolf. Fox enters the Dark Tournament because to find out what is exactly is happening with Falco and to fix some massive crisis's all across the Lylat System. Fox is arguably the fastest overall character in Clash with insanely fast mobility, normals, projectile and everything else about him. He's very difficult to defend against, but as such is very easy to play offense on. Changes from Brawl to Clash Fox's speed, to say the least, has been taken up to eleven. He has even better methods of mobility with his improved air speed and Fox Illusion buffs, and a few of his slower attacks are faster. He also has ways of canceling a few of his attacks into other things for even more offensive pressure. Fox also retains some of his better features from the first few titles. In general, though, his strength has taken a further collapse from Brawl and deals a little less damage. Fox is probably the most powerful space animal in terms of combo damage output, though, so we'll see if this is a real big deal. Buffs *Reflector has the same set knockback it had in Melee, allowing for the same extremely powerful shine spikes as in that game. *Blaster can be rapid fired by holding down the Special Attack button. *Rapid kicks part of jab can be canceled into a dash or a jump. This move also now deals out a lot of hitstun and shieldstun. *Fox Illusion can be canceled into a jump; air version into a double jump if you haven't used one already. This only applies if it hits or gets blocked though. *Fox Illusion now starts on frame 12, compare frame 21 from Brawl. *Fox Illusion has set knockback to about Fox's normal jump height, letting you easily connect with an aerial after it. *Fox Illusion now recovers 5 frames faster. *Fox Illusion now does 6%, compare 3% from Brawl. *Grounded Fox Illusion will no longer cause Fox to fall off the stage unless right next to the stage edge. *Frames 1-18 of Fire Fox are invincible. *Fire Fox is now much, much stronger in terms of knockback. *Fox can chain his Neutral Aerial into a Forward Aerial if it hits or is shielded. *His Back Throw has been replaced with his old, much stronger one from the original Smash game, although it isn't as strong as it was in that game. *Down Strong starts on frame 5, compare frame 8. *Side Smash starts on frame 10, compare frame 14. *Slightly slower falling speed. *Faster air speed. *Blaster shots go the distance they did in Melee. Nerfs *Slightly slower falling speed. *Up Smash kills about 8% later. *Back Aerial now deals 13%, compare 15%. *Down Aerial has 4 frames extra landing lag. *The second, third and fourth hits of his Down Aerial now deal 2% each decreasing the total damage to 20%. *Charge-up of Fire Fox no longer hits, but the regular attack hits several times now like Falco's old Fire Bird. *Reflector has lost its invincibility frames. *Wide variety of adjustments made to the Landmaster to make it anything resembling fair. *Up Tilt starts on frame 5; compare frame 3. *Forward Aerial no longer has any recovery use. Other Pros & Cons Fox is the standard for sheer speed in Clash and is a character of extremes. On one hand, Fox is capable of heavy offensive pressure and can punish the foe for making the slightest screw-up in their defense. On the other hand, Fox himself has major problems dealing with rushdown and solid defensive play which can make some of his matches really hard. He runs on hot blood and is the Smash equivalent to a roller coaster. Fox is speed, that's all there is to it. He has no normal move with more than 10 frame start-up, has insane mobility and is able to get in the opponent's head very quickly. He has some alright approach options with his firefight... fighting combo of well used blasters and reflectors and some good aerials. He has really long, really highly damaging combos that can quickly send opponents into knockout percents where Fox can easily find set-ups for his very powerful finishers on both axises of a stage. He's a great meter builder and also has some decent supers at his hands. This guy is scary once he gets his game going and is a really frustrating opponent for almost the entire cast to fight against. Fox has troubles against characters capable of either of these two things or worse, both. The first is that Fox's lack of heavy defensive maneuvers (as his only invincible attack does not last until active frames and is very slow), terrible options for dealing with aerials and low armor give Fox enormous problems against characters with heavy offensive pressure tactics themselves like Sonic or Ganondorf. Characters with a stable defense capable of punishing Fox also provide problems, let it be through attempts to get through firefights and punishing you for doing so (Mega Man, Mewtwo) or easily punishing unsafe attacks for huge effect (Bowser, Black Shadow). The universal problem Fox has is his combination of high falling speed, weight and low armor that make him not only easy to combo but easy to combo into a knockout. Like M. Bison in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, he's 100% offense and 0% defense. Fox is capable of extremely threatening things if he is allowed to do so and can have a pretty easy time doing that on some fighters. Against the people who can't allow him to do so is why Fox may not end up being an absolute top tier character. In the right hands, a Fox player will have to be something every player will have to be on the watch for because of how quickly Fox can gain the advantage in a match. Basically you're flipping a coin if you play him. That's what makes him fun though. Pros *Offense is awesome; is a nightmare once his game is going along well. This can lead him to really destroy a match. *''The'' definition of speed in Clash *Has an alright approach game *Can rack up huge damage very quickly *Some of his attacks have really high priority *Builds meter pretty quickly with his multi-hit attacks and blasters which he can find some good use for Cons *Defense is crap; is basically doomed once the other fighter's game is going on him. This can lead him to really get destroyed in a match. *Has problems against people who can overwhelm him in firefights *He is incredibly easy to knockout quickly *Huge problem dealing with command grabs or other reliable punish tactics *Has some problems punishing safer attacks reliably *Recovery isn't fantastic Moveset Ground Moves Normals *Neutral Attack: Fox performs to jab punches followed by a flurry of kicking attacks. Very fast start-up and a lot of improvements made to this from Brawl. You can cancel into this into Fox's dash for even more offensive pressure, keeps the opponent in place thanks to heavy stun it deals. It's very easy to combo off of as long as you don't let too many hits connect thanks to the hitstun scaling. Mediocre range also hurts it. **Damage: 2% first hit, 2% second hit, each rapid kick does 1-2% *Side Strong Attack: Fox performs a quick right kick. Fast with alright range and priority and safe. You're probably going to be using this to get some space control or as a shield poke as it isn't particularly useful in combos or as a killer. You can angle this but it doesn't drastically change the effects of the attack. **Damage: 6% *Up Strong Attack: Fox stands on his hands and does a scorpion kick with one leg. This isn't quite as excellent of a move as it was in Brawl thanks to decreased speed but if you want to be a good Fox player using this is mandatory. It combos into basically everything, including more Up Strongs, Neutral Aerial -> Forward Aerial and Down Aerial and sets up a lot of Fox's killing moves. The priority is VERY high and it ends pretty quickly and around 150% this can kill people but don't rely on it. Just a mind numbingly good move. **Damage: 10% *Down Strong Attack: Fox quickly does a sweeping attack with his tail. This will do more damage if the opponent is close to Fox. The tip is the weakest part but does launch the opponent straight up. Hitting with the tip can make it an ok set-up for aerial attacks. Otherwise, stick to the Side Strong due to it's better recovery, range and safety. Average attack in general but at least it starts really fast. **Damage: 9% close, 7% far *Dash Attack: Fox does a flying kick attack. Comes out extremely quickly and a great way to set-up an Up Strong, Up Smash or aerial attack. Not much range or priority on it and like a lot of dash attacks this is really easily shield grabbed though. Not the worst dash attack but there are better. **Damage: 7% Smash Attacks *Side Smash Attack: Fox does a rolling roundhouse kick. This now has the same start-up as your Up Smash even though it isn't anywhere near as powerful. The range and start-up make this a good punisher from a distance though. Decent horizontal knockback and can even be comboed from at low percents since it lands a knockdown allowing you to hit with something that OTGs like a Down Strong. **Damage: 16% (uncharged), 22% (charged) *Up Smash Attack: The dreaded circle kick. It is a little bit weaker, but is still the strongest Up Smash of three Star Fox characters like how Falco's Side Smash is the strongest and Wolf has the strongest Down Smash. Has a decent hitbox, massive priority and KOs several characters below 100% when uncharged and incredibly easy to combo into off a Dash Attack, Up Strong, Down Aerial and almost everything else Fox does. When charged, Bowser gets killed around 75% percent with it. Has much weaker horizontal knockback if an opponent is hit from Fox's behind. Quite simply an incredible attack and Fox's most reliable meterless way of knockouts. **Damage: 17%-25% (main hit), 13%-19% (weak hit) *Down Smash Attack: Fox does a split kick. Stronger than Falco's version but has more ending lag on it. It starts up incredibly quickly, has better knockback than the Side Smash and hits on both sides of Fox making it pretty good as a horizontal killing move. Also easy to set up but not as easily as the Up Smash due to the very low hitbox. **Damage: 14% (uncharged), 19% (charged) Aerial Moves *Neutral Aerial: Fox does a quick mid air kick. This move is one of Fox's fastest at 4 frames, has sex kick properties and makes a decent edgeguarder. It's easy to combo from but Fox has better attacks in that regard. Can be chain comboed into a Forward Aerial if it makes contact with anyone. Pretty decent attack. **Damage: 9%-6% *Forward Aerial: Fox kicks the air quickly five times in a row. HUGE damage if everything hits and can be canceled into anytime a Neutral Aerial connects. This also makes a decent approach option, has good priority and doesn't have a ton of landing lag. Sadly this doesn't help with recovery anymore, but Fox did receive better specials for that. **Damage: 5 hits worth 6-5-5-4-3 for a total of 23% *Back Aerial: Fox does a kick attack to the air behind him. One of Fox's slower aerials but also one of his strongest. It KOs below 150% on most of the cast pretty well and makes an alright edgeguarding attack. You're probably going to find this one of Fox's more reliable finishers. **Damage: 13% *Up Aerial: Fox flips his tail up and follows it up with a kicking attack. Hits twice with the first hit almost always comboing into the second. A highly damaging and decent vertical killer and one of Fox's better air-to-air options from below. Not much range on it and also Fox's slowest aerial, though. **Damage: 5% first hit, 11% second hit *Down Aerial: Fox does a drill kick downward. 7 hits. Fox's easier to use but far less rewarding Meteor Smash; even at high percents the downward spiral isn't strong at all. Instead, this is one of Fox's most useful combo tools (be aware of the high hit count thanks to hitstun scaling though, if you want to start REALLY long strings with it) and probably the easiest of his attacks to follow-up. The shieldstun on this attack is very weak, allowing most of the cast to shield grab it, or worse, use a command grab on it very easily. You should also be aware of the moderate landing lag meaning you should connect with the 7th hit before getting on the stage to continue a combo. It also works ok as an approach option, but Fox has better options. Great if you know how to use it right (ie a combo) but not much otherwise thanks to some nerfs and the same reasons in Brawl. **Damage: Hits 1, 5, 6 and 7 deal 3%. Hits 2, 3 and 4 deal 2%. Total 18% Grabs and Throws *Grab: Quick swipe. Range is mediocre. Fox's pivot is really good though, being fast with great range. I wouldn't use the dash grab much. *Pummel: Quick knee. Decent speed but weak. **Damage: 1% *Forward Throw: Fox punches the foe, sending them forwards a bit. Best use for this is probably to get someone off stage. **Damage: 7% *Back Throw: His old Back Throw from the original title has Fox rolling back and kicking the opponent off him, similarly to Ryu's back throw. Decent knockback and another good method of getting the foe off stage. **Damage: 10% *Up Throw: Fox throws the opponent up and fires some blaster shots at them. The additional hits are easy to DI and it doesn't really allow much for follow-ups. Basically it's only use is to get someone into the air. **Damage: 8% if all shots connect *Down Throw: Fox throws the opponent down and fires some blaster shots at them. This is probably what you'll want to use when you land a grab since it's the easiest throw to follow-up with an aerial. **Damage: 9% *Air Throw: Fox holds the foe by their neck and does uppercuts their chin, setting them on fire. Looks cool and has good range and power. Fox's air throw is a pretty good tool and one you may want to go for every so often. **Damage: 12% Special and Super Moves Standard Special Move: Blaster Fox takes the blaster out of his holster out and starts firing with it. Holding down the Special button has Fox fire more shots. Unlike in Brawl they now go past Final Destination distance which is nice. Each projectile fired has -1 priority on their own, but about 6 shots will break a 0 priority projectile like a Hadoken. Fox's blaster shots cannot destroy projectiles of any higher strength even with like 20 shots. Starts pretty fast and has ok recovery once Fox is done. It's good to make an opponent come to you and works alright in firefights if you throw his Reflector in sparingly. They do not do any hitstun, even against Mr. Game & Watch so also keep the fact an opponent can just walk through them inmind. Blasters do, however, inflict (REALLY low) stun so if you have the option it is still possible to dizzy opponents with this. Like in old games Fox can do various short hop tricks with this to auto cancel the lasers and create some very difficult situations for the opponent to avoid without taking damage or leaving themselves open. This makes it great as a way to refresh your moves which have been hit hard by Stale Move Negotiation. Each shot does somewhere from 1-3%. Smash Special Version: Has Fox shoots about 15 shots that cover a 90 degree angle in front of him. When done in the air, the shots cover the 90 degree angle down and in front of Fox. Also recovers bit faster than the regular version, always does 4% for each shot, and will flinch. An extremely difficult attack to avoid completely and a good method of space control if you're willing to use the meter. Side Special Move: Fox Illusion Fox dashes forward so quickly that it results in creating an illusion of himself that dashes behind him. Inputting a sideways direction and Special during the start-up cancels it. While the other two Star Fox fighters got brand new, really good Side Specials, Fox has been given a very big improvement over his old one from past games. Indeed, what improvements this has received. Like in Brawl this makes a great recovery option. It travels quite some horizontal distance very quickly, making it a bit difficult to react to. However you also have some offensive use for it thanks to it's jump canceling ability, better start-up, better damage and better recovery for when it is blocked or misses. Anytime this connects you can cancel it into a jump. This allows you to really easily connect with an aerial of your choice afterwards. Then you cancel the aerial into another Fox Illusion, double jump cancel it and attack with another aerial. And that doesn't take into account further comboing from that aerial. As you can see, this can be really deadly when comboed into. Also great when recovering if it DOES hit and you haven't used your double jump up yet allowing you to combo off your recovery attack easily. If the opponent sees this coming and it is whiffed, however, you can be punished dearly. The recovery is shorter but not by an absolutely astonishing amount. Take notes on this. This attack does 6%. Smash Special Version: Deals 9% more damage and dashes straight through 1 priority or less projectiles. A handy move to have around for running straight into people like Falco who will throw out projectiles a lot and punish them with some good damage off the jump cancel. Up Special Move: Fire Fox Fox charges himself up, coating his body in flames and then rams straight in the direction of your choice while muttering "FIRE!". Fox's other, arguably less reliable recovery move. At least it can go upwards. The slowest attack Fox has normally although it has a TON of invincibility at the start now. The bad part is that the invincibility is just 3 frames off from covering the attack's entire starting period, which means you CAN be hit easily before the attack really starts. That's even easier now thanks to the removal of a hitbox before the charging attack. The good part is that if it DOES hit it will send people far. This is now a 8 hit, extremely powerful attack that KOs Mario at 65% if every hit connects. It's still, however, difficult to utilize even that since it's so slow and very hard to combo into unless you cancel into it from a high hitstun attack like a Side Smash. This attack does 8 hits. The first 7 do 2% each, and the final does 14%. Smash Special Version: Starts 8 frames faster than the normal version and the invincibility DOES overlap with active frames. It is also quite a bit safer when shielded than the regular version. A decent anti-air and out-of-shield punish option; one useful move Fox has. Down Special Move: Reflector Fox probably has the best reflector in the game. This makes him turn on his... reflector, which encases him in a couple of blue hexagonal shapes which will deflect most projectiles that touch Fox. Great as a reflector since unlike a lot of reflectors, this will reflect just about everything regardless of where it hits Fox. This reflector covers his ENTIRE body and will reflect everything that has 1 projectile priority or less; like all regular projectiles this can't counter things like a full charged Shadow Ball. When combined with his blaster, Fox can actually do alright in firefights against characters like Ryu or Ike with good but low priority projectiles. Be weary of countering other attacks with it though since it now lacks invincibility. Also works great as an edgeguarding and control attack since for the former use it has the very quick speed alongside the set knockback and hitstun from Melee that made it so fearsome and excellent for a wide variety of purposes. Alongside spiking people it can also set up some combos on stages with walls. The lack of wavedashing in Clash makes the old Melee infinite impossible to do in Clash though. The move also slows Fox's falling speed down allowing you to easily recover after shine spiking someone or just assist in your regular recovery. Pretty nifty. A good attack to use on defense or offense. This attack does 3%. Smash Special Version: Has the old version's invincibility frames and leaves Fox at a good frame advantage on hit, plus when blocked it's safe. Works great as a counter to really predictable attacks. Clash Attack: Meteor Fox *Uses 2 bars of Fox's Clash Attack Meter. *Done by holding down for 2 seconds, then pressing forward + Special + Attack. Fox does an extremely powerful, faster version of his Fire Fox which travels Final Destination distance. It basically has him rushing straight forward with a huge column of flame surrounding him. This actually only hits three times, but it is for ENORMOUS damage and knockback. It's one of the most powerful Clash Attacks in the game, actually. Does not have any invincibility like the regular attack but is a bit faster at 16 frames start-up. Not easy to combo into but if you can find a way to do so you will huge rewards. Also great as a recovery move if you are willing to burn the meter to use it as such and also have a down charge handy. This attack does, however, have over a second of ending lag letting the other fighter punish with whatever they want pretty much if they block it or it misses. This attack does 3 hits, each doing 14%. Up to 42% can be dealt if it hits. Final Smash 1: Landmaster *Requires his entire Super Smash Meter to be filled. *Done with Down, Down Forward, Forward + Special + Attack. Fox yells "Ready for this? LANDMASTER!" and hops quickly into the sky. When he comes down, he evidently brought down a massive tank with him. Fox rides this Landmaster for 12 seconds and can do several things with it. *Obviously just tilting a direction has the Landmaster move in said direction. Anyone who collides with the Landmaster during this takes 15%. *Tapping backwards makes the Landmaster do a damaging turn that does 17%. *Pressing up (if tap jump is on) or a jump button makes the Landmaster fly up. Like in Brawl, Fox's Landmaster has very low jet power making the old "get opponent onto tank and fly up for instant KO" trick very hard to do on almost every stage. *Pressing down makes the Landmaster do a barrel roll. This is much weaker than the barrel roll on Falco's Arwing. Does 17%. *Pressing Attack has the Landmaster shoot a laser from it's barrel. A little harder to dodge, but weaker knockback wise, than it was in Brawl. +6 priority, enough to tie with some projectile (but not all) Final Smashes. You can also now angle it. Does 18%. *You can also charge this up for about a second. Doing so increases the priority to +7 and makes it deal a huge 33%. *Pressing Grab has the Landmaster draw it's barrel down and try to grab someone with it. If it succeeds, the barrel launches the opponent out at a 45 degree angle for massive damage (35%) and knockback. Good for opponents who like to block or air dodge most of what a Landmaster can do and has much better range and power but is slower than the Arwing's throw. The cockpit below the barrel can be broken by dealing 30% damage to it (15% less needed than to break an Arwing because it is very hard to actually get in that range) and if someone succeeds this Final Smash can be ended instantly. However, beams and projectiles will not work for this. Some very powerful beams slow the Landmaster down a bit. The Landmaster is a pretty powerful Final Smash. While you don't have as much time to play around with it as in Brawl, it offers some nice benefits and some characters have huge problems dealing with this. Final Smash 2: Cerinia Assault *Requires at least half his Super Smash Meter to be filled. *Done with Down, Down Back, Back + Special + Attack. *After activating, hold an Attack to make the staff get thrown a longer distance and steer the Control Stick to control the direction it travels. Fox takes the staff Krystal owned in Star Fox Adventures and spins around while muttering "About time I ended this! ASSAULT!" He then throws it in a direction of your choice, controlled by the method described above. Anyone who does get hit with it is locked onto the staff base until it reaches solid ground. The staff must land on solid ground for the rest of the attack to be performed; if the staff gets into the bottom of the stage players latched onto it are freed and can recover. If it does land on the stage, the staff creates a small earthquake that can hit other opponents not hit by the throw. If either part of this hits anyone, a cutscene is triggered where several shots of fire and ice energy attack opponents. It ends with Fox striking through the opponent with several Fox Illusion dashes ending in one last slam with the staff. "And for you, it's over!" If you somehow land Fire Fox offensively (good luck with that, as mentioned in that move's description) and then Clash Cancel it you have a good combo opportunity for this. Otherwise it's pretty difficult to use this as an offensive such. Fox has almost no defense in his game, though, so it can be good to use this in a firefight against characters Fox has trouble against in one (Mega Man, Funky Kong for examples) or as an anti-air attack which Fox sorely lacks. Always note your stage position when you use this attack due to the possibility of this failing mentioned in the first paragraph. You don't want the main attack to whiff for just 10% damage. Overall it is a decent Final Smash that takes a little bit of creativity to be used well. The staff throw and earthquake each do 10% and the main part of the attack.The cutscene does 65-91% depending on the Super Smash Meter charge. Potential total damage is 75-101% (both the staff throw and earthquake hitting is impossible, hence no 85-111%). Other Taunts and Victory Poses On-screen appearance In The Dark Tournament: Adventure Mode Competitive Tactics and Advice Match-ups Advanced techniques Costume Colors Trophies and Profile information Challenge Wall rewards Trivia External links Category: Characters (Clash) Category: Star Fox universe